Yokohama 2012 Motorsports Program Revs Up

Tire maker teams up with a new partner in the ALMS GT Class and continues campaigns in ‘green racing’ with orange-oil infused tires in the GTC and GT3 Challenge series, plus off-road racing

“Let the racing begin!”That’s the word from Andrew Briggs, Yokohama Tire Corporation’s (YTC) director of product planning and motorsports, as the Fullerton, California-based tire maker prepares for the 2012 racing season. Leading the strong line-up will be Yokohama’s campaign in the ALMS GT series featuring a new partnership with Alex Job Racing competing on a Lotus Evora. Yokohama will also once again continue to run in the GTC Class of the ALMS and in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama with its eco racing slick – the ENV-R2 – as the series’ spec tire. Plus, Yokohama-sponsored teams will compete in off-road racing’s SCORE and Lucas Oil series – where they won championships in 2011.

“We have a new partner in ALMS and have titles to defend in off-road,”said Briggs,“so we are really anxious for this season to get underway.”

Yokohama will participate in four race series during 2012, ranging from sports cars to off-road trucks. Series include:

American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and GT Challenge (GTC) Class

This season, Yokohama will partner with Alex Job Racing and supply tires for team Lotus-AJR in the highly competitive ALMS GT Class. The Lotus Evora-based GT entry will ride on ADVAN® A005 development tires.

While the 10-race series begins with the 12 hours of Sebring on March 17, the Lotus-AJR team will make its debut on the streets of Long Beach at the Long Beach Grand Prix on April 14. The ALMS season will conclude with the Petit Le Mans 10-hour event at Road Atlanta, where Yokohama is the “Official Tire.” For details, visit www.yokohamatire.com/motorsports or the ALMS web site at http://www.americanlemans.com/.

The orange oil-infused ENV-R2 race tires will again be campaigned in the ALMS GTC Class. A field of approximately 10 cars will compete at all ALMS events, including endurance races, such as the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. More details can be found at www.yokohamatire.com/motorsports or http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=schedule|calendar.

Yokohama’s ENV-R2, the first – and only – environmentally-friendly tire used in a racing series, will campaign in the 15-race series (at eight venues), which YTC is sponsoring for the fourth consecutive year. As the series’ spec tire, the ENV-R2 will be featured on all the Porsche 911 GT3 race cars, which will compete at leading North American tracks such as Sebring, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Road Atlanta.

“The ENV-R2, which reduces petroleum inputs while performing at the same level as previous compounds, is one of our biggest successes,”said Briggs. “It has surpassed all driver expectations from a performance standpoint.

We expect fields of more than 30 cars vying for championships in two divisions, all on ENV-R2 tires.”

The series begins at Sebring, March 14-17. For details, visit http://www.imsachallenge.com/.

2012 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama Schedule

March 14-17: Sebring International Raceway; Sebring, Florida

April 28-29: Miller Motorsports Park; Tooele, Utah

May 10-12: Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca; Monterey, California

June 8-10: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on the Île de Notre-Dame; Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Yokohama is coming off a championship season with the Desert Assassins’ Heidi Steele, who captured the Class 6 title in 2011 – her fourth SCORE (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) class title. Heidi will miss part of the season as she awaits the birth of her first child, but plans to return in June for the Baja 500, according to husband Cameron Steele, a Trophy Truck class veteran and TV commentator. Desert Assassins’ teammate Rene Brugger will race Heidi’s Ford Ranger, which runs on off-the-shelf Geolandar M/T+® tires. Brugger finished third twice in the two 2012 SCORE season-opening races in Laughlin, Nevada.

Cameron Steele, the San Clemente, California-based off-roader and two-time SCORE Person of the Year, is campaigning two Geiser Brothers Trophy Trucks in 2012. Both ride on newly developed 40-inch Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S® R tires specially engineered for extreme off-road conditions. “They are a dream to race on,” said Cameron.

The next race is the San Felipe 250, San Felipe, Baja, Mexico, March 9-10. For details, go to http://www.score-international.com/.

George is back with Yokohama on A/T-S tires for 2012, moving up to the Pro Lite division in the eight-event series that combines the Midwest tradition of short course off-road racing with a West Coast influence.

The season kicks off March 31-April 1 at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. For more information, visit http://www.lucasoiloffroad.com.